I'm so confused!

Hey ya'll! Hope you don't mind but I'm going to innudate you with BF quesitons .... b/c I'm confused! (although some say that's a perpetual state of mine!)

I'm currently 29 weeks pregnant with di/di twins, a boy (jackson) and a girl (adalynn). I really want to breast feed. There are the obvious reasons but also I'm going to bet that my children are going to be lactose intollerant, I am -- my mom wasn't able to breast feed due to medications she was on, and I was a soy baby, my brother had the same problem but he had to be on some special type of formula b/c of it and my DH is also lactose intollerant --- so I'm guessing my little ones will most likely have the same issue. I'm bad about eating dairy though, I love mac and cheese, and I eventually pay for it after eating it ... but it's so dang good I can't give it up, lol. My question is -- if they are lactose intollerant do I need to give up all dairy when I breast feed, does it pass through breast milk?

How in the heck do you breast feed 2 ... do you do one at a time??? Thinking about juggling two kind of makes me laugh, don't think I have the coordination for it, lol!

Pumping ... DH wants to be able to feed the babies too. One of the ladies he works with is giving me her pump and bought all the tubing and everything for me for my baby shower, when is your supply built up enough to be able to do this?

Bottles -- what are the best bottles for breast feeding mom to not completely cause nipple confusion? My best friend had told me about Dr. Brown's bottles and that was what she used for her DD however she only breast fed for 3 months and then went to formula b/c she was going back to work, luckily I'm not going back to work any time soon so I'll be able to breast feed longer.

Pumping and freezing -- not that I think I'll have a crazy supply, but if you pump and freeze, how long is the frozen breast milk good for?

How do you know if your babies are getting enough? With formula you have the amount that you put in the bottles and they finish that, I'd think with breast feeding you'd have more of a supply for the babies. This is probably a stupid question but this is my first pregnancy therefore my first time breast feeding ... how will you know if both babies are getting adequate amounts of breast milk, and one not just being a porker and not leaving enough for the other ... yeah I know silly question but I'm curious.

How often do you feed a breast fed child? I've read various articles/books and the times are all different.

Some recommend supplementing it with rice cereal, is this wise to do? If so when do you start supplementing?

I'm sure there are more questions but I can't think of anything right now ... but any help would be appreciated!!!

Thanks gals!
~Alex

 

I promise you, I love dairy just as much as you. Mac n cheese is my favorite food as well. :friends: I am also fairly intolerant of dairy and limit (now) my own intake. Yes, my twins were lactose intolerant as well. Not every baby is- most are able to digest the limited amount passed via you to them. My girl has eczema and signs of lactose intolerence as well, but I limit my dairy now so she does ok.

I did have to give up dairy for my boys. :youcandoit: I won't lie, it was hard, but I did find things I could eat and ended up just fine.

Nursing 2 at a time can be tricky but I preferred to nurse both at a time with this. This pillow let me put a baby on each side and feed both at once. Tandem feeding made feeding two much like feeding one baby.

Pumping I never particularly enjoyed. It's more work for everybody involved as you have to devote time to pumping, then bottle feeding the babies, then all the dishes that you have to do afterward from the pump and bottles verses just unlatching your bra. If you can convince your DH to change, dress and burp babies it'll go a lot smoother. Otherwise the first 6 weeks are crucial for supply, so you can pump between a feed for the babies (early morning and morning are the best in terms of what you'll get out) then while he is bottle feeding him the milk, pump again. It's just such a PITA I preferred not to- instead I told my DH that since I feed them, he'd be in charge of bathing him. That was his thing- I didn't bath them for probably 8 months. :laughing:

I love these questions, BTW!

As to getting enough, you need to track their 'output'. It's just a matter of counting wet and poopy diapers in 24 hours. I switched boobs and kids every feed so even if one did take more that kid would signal that breast to make more next time. After they eat they are typically floppy and 'milk drunk' looking. If they are fussy and you've burped them really well (I underestimated how important burping really is!) then they might be going through a growth spurt and you just pop them on again.

I aimed to feed my babies between 10-12 times a day. Sometimes when they were tiny I'd hit 14 times in 24 hours but generally every 2 hours (start of a feed to start of a feed) during the day and up to 3 hours start to start at night. They didn't always make 3 hours as mine were born a bit hungry, but that was the goal. I'd let them do 4 hours once/day, start to start, if they were sleeping, too.

You don't need to supplement with cereal. They can't digest it in the beginning as their systems are immature. Some docs will have you thicken breastmilk with cereal to help with reflux.

The best advice I can give is to make sure they are latching properly. If you don't, it will hurt your breasts. You really need to check to see if the bottom lip is flipped down and they get as much of the nipple in as possible. Put the nipple on their top lip/nose area until they open up wide, when quickly flip the breast down into their mouth.

Good luck and come ask questions anytime!

 

Your best bet is to get a lactation consultant. She will be able to answer all your questions and help you with latching. I am a second time mom with my girls and I still got one and it is the best money I've spent so far for my twins. If your hospital has a lactation center they can recommend one for you, you can also try La Leche League or call WIC. I got really lucky and my hospital's center was able to recommend someone who had twins herself. I feel like I recommend this on here a lot, but it's the only because it was SO helpful for me!

 

I think the PPs covered most of your questions but I wanted to throw in one piece of advice: let your doctor/nurses know that you want to breastfeed within the first hour of their birth if at all possible. With my oldest, I didn't let my delivery nurse leave the room until she helped me with the first latch and with the twins, I made sure that I had latched them on properly myself before the nurses got too far away. This is by no means a guarantee that they will latch properly from the beginning or that breastfeeding will go smoothly and not being able to do this does not mean that breastfeeding will be hard either. However, in my experience, the earlier both you and the babies get that first feeding experience, the easier it is for everyone to adapt to it. Remember, breastfeeding is one of the most natural things in the world but it doesn't come naturally to either mothers or babies - it takes some practice.

Oh - and as for nipple confusion, I don't think it matters what type of bottle/nipple you use as long as you use the slowest flow nipple that doesn't frustrate them completely. Babies tend to be smarter than we give them credit for. I don't think it's so much that they get confused as that it's easier to get milk out of a bottle nipple that just allows it to drip out versus a nipple that they have to actively suck on.